Author exclusive
Bestselling author Joanne Harris talks to books editor Joanne Finney about motivation, how feeling like an outsider has shaped her and the role scent plays in her writing
It’s been a tough couple of years for Joanne Harris. Not only was she diagnosed with breast cancer just as the first lockdown happened in March 2020, she has also faced a barrage of abuse on social media for her views on gender identity and other issues. It culminated in a petition calling for her resignation as chair of the Society of Authors (SoA). But Joanne is not one to go quietly – she fought back against detractors and won an SoA vote, 608 to 143, to stay in her role. There is good news, too, about her health: she is now cancer-free and feeling positive. ‘I feel, to a certain extent, that I’m stronger on the other side,’ she says. ‘Once the thing you had feared has happened – you’ve seen the monster – it’s not so scary any more.’
All of this, and more, fed into Joanne’s latest novel, Broken Light, about a woman on the precipice of 50 and what happens when her anger, hoarded for years, is finally given its chance to escape. It’s a dark read, but there is humour, too, and a central character many will relate to.
Broken Light is Joanne’s 23rd novel, and she has written numerous novellas, short stories and game scripts. She’s also the author of the libretti for two short operas, several screenplays, a stage musical and three cookbooks. ‘I just love telling stories,’ she says, ‘in whatever form that takes – the printed word, music, theatre. All these things are tied by narrative.’
Joanne wrote her first three books while working as a teacher and it was the third, Chocolat, that made her a household name. It was a huge word-of-mouth hit and was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche.
Now 58, Joanne lives in Yorkshire with her husband of more than 30 years, Kevin, and writes in a stone structure she calls ‘The Shed’ at the bottom of her garden. The couple have a son, Fred, 29.
In my new book, I wanted to write something about the power women hold. There’s this strange dichotomy women experience where they’re told they have sexual power – except what does that really mean? And what does that turn into as they get older? It made me think about how much more visible younger women are than older women. I’m a big Stephen King fan and one of the things he does is associate puberty with superpowers. I was rereading his book Carrie and I thought it would be so much more interesting if Carrie had had an ordinary life but at menopause she got her superpowers. How would that have felt? I started to write this weird story and it became Broken Light.
All my heroes and heroines are the same kind of people: outsiders in a community, who are able to make a change throug
